PEORIA, Ariz.  Being that he was the Padres' starting pitcher Wednesday, Andrew Cashner got to pick the pregame music. He went with country.

Fitting for this team. A few more injuries, and tumbleweeds just may roll through the clubhouse.

This doesn't look too good so far, does it? Spring Training for the rest of baseball, Spring Waning for the Padres' roster.

We're less than a week into March and already Cameron Maybin is out (2-3 months) due to a biceps tear, Cory Luebke gone (the whole season) due to an elbow tear, and Chase Headley sidelined (two weeks) because of a strained calf.

Significant Padres injuries in 2013

Carlos Quentin (knees), missed 80 games.

Cameron Maybin (knee, wrist), missed 148 games.

Yonder Alonso (hand), missed 65 games.

Yasmani Grandal (knee), missed 134 games -- 50 to suspension.

Cory Luebke (elbow), missed whole season.

Jedd Gyorko (groin), 37 games missed.

Everth Cabrera (hamstring), 67 games missed -- 50 to suspension.

This is supposed to be the most optimistic time of the season, when even the most futile franchises delete their memory banks and scream "here we go!" But if you're the Pads, at least part of you has to be thinking "here we go again."

Not once during their 76-win season last year could San Diego say "at least we have our health." Carlos Quentin, the team's highest-paid player in 2013, missed 80 games. Maybin sat out 148, First baseman Yonder Alonso missed 65, first-half Rookie of the Year the candidate Jedd Gyorko missed 37, and catcher Yasmani Grandal -- though also serving a suspension -- was out for 134.

Hey, injuries are part of the sport, but it became an incessant and excessive part of the Padres last season. And at some point, when it keeps happening, don't you have to wonder if it's as much curse as it is coincidence?

"I understand the question, but no," said Headley after a long pause. "You really feel for the guy who's hurt, but once you start to think that you're snakebitten, that just adds to the misery."

Plus, you gotta remember, when something happens many times in the past, fans tend to notice when it happens any time in the present. Michael Jordan could have missed 15 straight buzzer beaters at the tail end off his career, but the public would still zero in on the one he drilled. Same is true of a fan base disregarding a stretch of good health for a perpetually banged up team.

With the Padres, however, this isn't just in people's heads. As ESPN's lead baseball scribe Buster Olney tweeted after Maybin's prognosis was announced: "The Padres' bad luck with injuries is beyond absurd."

But is it really just bad luck that we're talking about? Or is it possible that the Padres created some of the "luck" themselves?

Maybin suffered a labrum tear, a pulled groin and shoulder soreness as a Marlins minor-leaguer in 2010, then inked a 5-year, $25 million deal with the Padres in 2012. Meanwhile, San Diego General Manager Josh Byrnes extended Quentin to a 3-year, $27 million contract in 2012 despite the fact that he had never played more than 131 games in a season with the White Sox, and had two seasons in which he missed at least 44.

Would it really be a surprise if Quentin's starts were limited to double digits this year, just like they been the last two? Would it really be a shock if starting pitcher Josh Johnson, whom the Padres acquired via a one-year deal this offseason, rekindled his battle with the shoulder inflammation that limited to nine games in 2011, or the arm stiffness that kept him to 16 in 2011?

No, probably not. But that's part of the risk Byrnes took in constructing this team, and it this point, risk has a leg-up on reward.

It's still early, though. And with Seth Smith bolstering the outfield, and with young pitchers such as Robbie Erlin and Burch Smith developed enough to replace a starter if need be, the Padres are better equipped to endure a lineup shuffle than they were in each of the past two years.

Even so, man...this is not an encouraging start. Given the payrolls of divisional foes such as the Dodgers and the Giants, San Diego's margin for error is toothpick-thin.